SamH Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Looking good! It'll look even better once that hairgrass fills in 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superico Posted October 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 to Anthony: its to warm for newts and has no lid to Sam: i hope so because the hair grass was a spur of the moment buy and i didn't plan to have it at all so i hope it fills in nicely and fits in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 looks cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 awesome, thats the way it should be done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superico Posted October 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 does anyone know about the cycling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 lance armstrong does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 lance armstrong does Another helpful comment :roll: Are you wanting to do a fishless cycle superico? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superico Posted October 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 what do you mean? i thought it wasn't safe to put fish in at the start because the ammonia can still build up to dangerous levels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 you need some form of ammonia buildup to feed the bacteria. you can go fishless and add an ammonia chemical, or feed it via a dead prawn or just lotsa uneaten fish food. IMO having a few hardy species in there (and building the population slowly)does a better job with less risks. or just use live bacteria solution and test until your happy its stable. (useful enough????) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superico Posted October 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 so i can start getting 4-5 fish when i go to organisms on saturday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 You need to put your aquarium through what is known as a cycle. Simply this refers to the cycle where organic waste turns into ammonia, the bacteria turns this ammonia into nitrite and the bacteria then turns this into nitrate which is absorbed by the plants or removed via water changes. This can be done with fish but may lead to toxic levels of ammonia, nitrite or nitrate in the aquarium so commonly it is done by introducing fish food or ammonia to the aquarium. This is known as a "fishless" cycle and is much safer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superico Posted October 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 so if i ad some food into the tank and the ammonia goes up and then down again it has enough bacteria for fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 18, 2012 Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 This graph should give you an idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted October 18, 2012 Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 so if i ad some food into the tank and the ammonia goes up and then down again it has enough bacteria for fish There is no way to easily tell, that is why many 'old timers' will do a cycle with fish and just add them slowly over time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 18, 2012 Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 I avoid fishless cycling for a few reasons, 1: you cannot be sure of the amount of ammonia you are adding unless you use chemical ammonia. 2: chemical ammonia may add other nasty things to the tank (im sure many will disagree but i'd rather be 100% sure than risk it) 3: fish handle minor ammonia rises in the wild (dry season pools) and do ok 4: a rotting prawn in your tank doesn't seem as good an idea as having a few fish swimming around 5: doing regular tests and learning the cycle properly will only help your fishkeeping skills. if you can keep fish alive during a cycle you can keep fish well. btw that graph shows rather high nitrate levels, whoever keeps that tank should do more water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superico Posted October 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 or have more plants sam i see where your coming from but due to having lots of algae im going to get some otos and maybe a 5-10 max pleco at organisms on saturday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 18, 2012 Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 Why not treat the cause of the problem instead of the symptoms? You're taking a panadol for a broken leg really. Ottos only eat certain types of algae and plecos rarely touch the stuff. Then again, this is all just free advice, up to you whether or not you take it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superico Posted October 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 currently i cant regulate my nutrients, as i have jbl aqua basis plus and it freely releases nutrients into the water. so i have to wait until it stops releasing so i can get an even amount of nutrients for the plants to absorb and have no exes for the algae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 18, 2012 Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 Keep up the water changes then yeah? 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superico Posted October 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 will do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 defs prefer fished cycles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superico Posted October 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2012 so i went out today and bought 3 otocinclus plus some more plants new crypts: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superico Posted October 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 now all i have left to buy is 6-8 panda corys, 1 male of ether Apistogramma trifasciata or agassizi, and ether 10 emperor tetra or 20 red phantom tetras I'll decide on which apistos depending on what organisms can get but I am unsure which tetras to get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 red phantoms are one of my favs, they always look washed out until they have some plants to hide around then they go the BRIGHTEST red ever. also think about Black phantoms, when they in the mood they are one of the prettiest fish on earth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superico Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 today I trimmed my hygrophila and replanted the cut offs cuttings ready for replanting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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